I
was a casual fan of Veronica Mars – the short lived TV show about a teenage
Private Eye. I watched it whenever I was around when it was on – enjoying star
Kristen Bell’s whip smart comic delivery of her lines, the witty byplay between
her and her father, and the noir inspired look of the show. We’ve heard a lot
of shows called “cinematic” over the past few years – and Veronica Mars
applies, at least visually. I was disappointed when the show was cancelled –
but quickly moved on. When they announced the Kickstarter campaign last year, I
didn’t donate, but I hoped it would be successful. It was – and now we have the
resulting movie that all those fans paid for. I had fun with the film while I
was watching it – even if it never really felt like anything more than a
special two-part episode of the series set a few years in the future. That is,
I suspect what the fans paid to see and I cannot conceive of someone who loved
the show so much that they willing financed a film version to be disappointed
in the final product. Series creator, Rob Thomas, who co-wrote and directed the
movie – gave fans precisely what they wanted – and though I wish he had bowed
down a little less to his rabid fan base, I cannot say I didn’t like the movie.

The
movie takes place 9 years after the show ended – with Veronica Mars just having
graduated law school and now interviewing at some prestigious New York law
firms. She left her old life in Neptune behind – no more being a P.I., no more
digging up the secrets of her corrupt hometown. Just a regular, boring life
with Piz (Chris Lowell). Then she gets a call from Logan (Jason Dohring) – her
ex-boyfriend, and also the boyfriend of her dead best friend from high school.
And now the boyfriend of a recently murdered pop star – who also went to high
school with them – where he is, of course, the main suspect. They haven’t spoken
in years but he wants her help finding a lawyer she can trust – so she puts her
life on hold, for only a few days she assures Piz, and heads back to Neptune
for the weekend – which just so happens to be the same weekend of her 10 Year
High School Reunion. What are the odds?

For
the uninitiated into the world of Veronica Mars, this isn’t the place to start.
I saw practically every episode when they aired – but haven’t revisited them
since – and at times I felt like I missing some of the in-jokes and references
that the obsessive among the viewers would eat up. I got enough them to not
make me feel stupid, and not to detract from my own viewing pleasure of the
film, but I know I missed things as well.

The
movie has everything a fan of Veronica Mars could possibly want – a reunion
with Veronica’s best friends – Mac (Tina Majorino) and Wallace (Percy Daggs
III), the same witty byplay between father (Enrico Colantoni – still great),
sexual chemistry between Veronica and Logan that they try futilely to resist,
vast conspiracies involving the rich of Neptune, etc. The movie also – and
herein lies my major problem with the film – brings back a bunch of other
series regulars for no reason other than the fans would expect them to. Do we
really need a subplot involving Weevil (Francis Capra) – as much as I loved his
character, his subplot here feels like it was tacked on at the last minute when
Thomas realized he forgot to write a role for a fan favorite. At least other
supporting players – like Ken Marino’s Vinnie Van Lowe and Max Greenfield’s Leo
D’Amato – are given cameos that fit in with the rest of the movie (however
awkwardly). Thomas, it seems, never attempted to take Veronica Mars to the next
level – never really tried to adapt it for movies, instead of television. What
we get in this movie is basically television storytelling. I’m not one of those
who look down on television – but I’m also not one who thinks there is no
difference between TV and movies. There is a big difference between the two –
not in terms of quality, but in terms of storytelling. They are different. And
Thomas doesn’t attempt to really adapt his style to the movie. Something like
the Weevil subplot would not seem so out of place in a TV series – where
multiple plots unfold simultaneously, some wrapped up in an episode, others
that stretch on for much longer. But in this movie, it sticks out like a sore
thumb. Thomas obviously wanted to give the people who paid for the movie – the
fans – what they wanted, and that is to include everyone they loved in the
movie. It may have been better had he focused on telling the story.

A
movie of this size, from an already recognizable and beloved property,
completely funded by fans on Kickstarter hasn’t really been attempted before.
The results, I think, are mainly a success – and should give hope to all those
obsessive fans of prematurely cancelled TV shows everywhere (hey David Milch –
throw a Kickstarter campaign up for a Deadwood movie – I’d donate to that).
Veronica Mars – bumps and all – provides fans of the show what they want –
which is the further adventures of their favorite, no longer teenage P.I. I
enjoyed the movie quite a bit – enough for me to hope that perhaps a sequel can
be made. I do hope that next time though, Thomas concentrates less on giving
fans EVERYTHING that was in the TV show, and focus instead of a tighter, less unwieldy
story that feels like it’s trying to cram too much in, simply to appease some
fans. If you make a great Veronica Mars movie, no one will care if it doesn’t
have every single character from the TV show shoehorned in.

About Me

I am an accountant, living in Brantford, ON - and although I am married and have beautiful daughter, I still find time to watch a lot of movies. This blog is mostly reviews of new movies - with other musing thrown in as well.